Prior to this course, I was always aware that you could edit Wikipedia files however HOW to do it remained a mystery. With the help of Dawn, we were able to select Plant Ecology related Wiki pages and add information to such pages as well as the references. We were told to edit at least 250 words and to add at least 5 references. It was very helpful as it allows us as students to input information on certain topics based on newer and updated research and be listed as editors and provide our own references. This information can then be used by others who visit the Wiki page and lead them to these references and research as well. At first, it all looked very confusing and overwhelming. A bunch of code and word. With the use of the training modules and exercises provided through the Dashboard–which we used for the final exam–we were able to facilitate between these editing guidelines. It is very useful and can be used in the future to remind us of certain policies that are used and enforced by Wikipedia. This is also useful in making Wikipedia pages for individuals as well and makes sense why the information on Wikipedia remains up to date. I will continue to use the skills acquired by these modules on Wikipedia in the future and am grateful that Dawn gave us the tools to do so necessary.

Becoming a Wikipedian allowed me to understand the true extent of why vetting and citing information matters. As university students, we often view citing sources only in terms of writing essays and lab reports, however, this should not be the case. Citations hold incredible power even in a non-academic setting.

Before becoming a Wikipedian I had no knowledge of open access information or metadata. While learning more about the organization of the site and the role of Wikipedia editors, I began to understand the immense complexity behind delivering public, open access, reliable information.

The nature and accessibility of Wikipedia has long been contested by educators. Some view the website as unreliable and insubstantial. On the contrary, information obtained from Wikipedia can be highly reliable (if sourced correctly) and highly vetted (by experts in the field). In a non-research setting, the platform – Wikipedia, allows us to understand the importance of checking where information is coming from and why it is necessary to vet information. Fact-checking is not only valuable in scientific research papers or experiments but also in a day-to-day context.

Verifying sources is important to uphold ethics and maintain the integrity of knowledge being disseminated. In the global information age, it is vital to distinguish between legitimate and non-legitimate sources of information.

First off, Wikipedia requires solid information from reliable primary sources. To made a Wikipedia post, one must first read and evaluate many primary articles. All information and quotes taken from the article and posted on Wikipedia must be sourced and documented. Most information from articles is irrelevant and cannot be added to Wikipedia posts. The author must first filter out all required information and avoid adding excess information that might confuse the reader. Only information that ties well with your topic should be added.

I personally expanded an Acid Rain Wikipedia post. I added a header for soil acidification and added information. I built on the topic of acid deposition, by linking acid rain to soil acid deposition. I talked about nutrient leaching due to acidic precipitation and expanded on the damage caused my acid rain on plants and vegetation. I read the post prior to my edits and noticed no one elaborated on soil acid deposition. I saw a few quote about soil but no one went into detail. Therefore, I added my own section with a lengthy paragraph on soil acid deposition. I also read many articles on soil leaching and the damages caused my acid rain, and cited them. Afterward, I read over my edits and made sure they were top notch and published my post.

After editing, I went back to re-edit and fix up my post. I realized I did not have enough citation, compared to other posts in the same page. I search up more article pertaining to my topic and cited them. I added a few more citation into areas where there were continuous sentences with no citation in between. I made sure the citation matched well with my writing and fixed or removed any that were irrelevant. I also realized that other post on the acid rain page included many images, and that I was lacking visual aid. Therefore, I added an image of a diagram of soil acid deposition and posted it. This was the worst part of my Wikipedia edits, because most of the images I wanted to use could not be uploaded due to copyright laws. I had no choice but to go with images Wikipedia provided. Though the diagram visual aid I got from Wikipedia was not the best to use with what I wrote, I looked through quite a few images until one tied well with my post.

I learned quite a few things from editing on Wikipedia. It isn’t as simple as I previously thought. It is more like a school project done on something like google docs. Your edits are monitored and if your information is misleading or inappropriate, it will be removed. Wikipedia is a free platform for exchanging information and knowledge. If used right and used to it’s full potential, Wikipedia can be an excellent source for reliable information.

Beginning my life as a high school student, I was constantly told to avoid the use of Wikipedia as a source in my essays. I was told it was not an accurate source of information for academic work. However, after talks from this class, I realise Wikipedia is an important tool for gaining preliminary understanding for several topics. It is a huge database made up of millions of users and contributors that share information on a wide range of topics. Being a science student, it is often difficult to find precise information about topics on interest. However, Wikipedia can help provide with information that is not easily found.

Additionally, Wikipedia requires that its editors provide credible cited information to ensure there is no misinformation on any subject. In order to fully utilize Wikipedia, it is important to enroll in the training programs made available. Wikiedu provides free training programs on how to use Wikipedia. It has several training modules that give information on several important aspects of Wikipedia. Students are provided with information on what plagiarism entails and how to properly paraphrase information found in articles. A lot of students like myself do not fully understand how to properly present information found in articles. Before the training module, I found myself using a lot of direct quotes in my research essays. However, I now understand how to properly paraphrase and cite my information. I recommend Wikiedu to any students who does not fully know to use Wikipedia properly

After being told to not use Wikipedia for any sort of information growing up, I didn’t know what to think when becoming a Wikipedian was one of the assignments. I now sort of understand the appeal of it.

Looking for references and constantly updating pages with pictures and better sentences is a bit exciting (in a way that is different from writing a paper for a course) and it is a reminder that the world around us is always changing, always updating in its own sort of way.

At first (without the modules), working with Wikipedia seemed daunting and intimidating. Wikipedia has its own code-ish thing? It was a bit overwhelming. However, after going through the training modules, the process of working with Wikipedia has become a lot easier. I was able to learn all sorts of tips and tricks such as editing in sandbox. I learned the importance of copyright, open access, and accessibility.

All in all, Wikipedia is its own community (I mean, the Teahouse? That’s kind of cool.) and one that will constantly require contributions and improvements, which I happily provide during my past time. You’ve convinced me.

Wikipedia is truly an engaging platform for students to actively participate and grasp knowledge from reliable sources.I discovered WikiEdu for my Applied Plant Ecology (BIOL4095) course website to be really helpful in editing my article for Lepidosaur herbivory.

The website is designed with helpful training modules which helped me in understanding the five pillars of Wikipedia and the policies that govern it. I was also able to comprehend the importance of adding a Wikipedia page under my watchlist especially my edited Wikipedia pages, as it allowed me to keep track of my editing and also observe the way my edits were modified by other users.

I also discovered the talk page to be an interesting tool. In my talk page, I was greeted by a fellow Wiki Educator which made me feel welcomed into the Wikipedia Community. I learnt about some basic Wiki codes from the training module but the visual editor interface was relatively easier for me.

Adding citations and images from Open Access and reliable sources is an important skill I learned in my journey of becoming a Wikipedian. WikiEdu also directed me to an Open Access image library and I was able to browse through a huge variety of images and filter them according to their licenses and use.

Finally, searching articles through WikiEdu on a particular topic was relatively easier and it directed me to many Wikipedia articles of similar kinds. Hence, I found WikiEdu’s resources and tools to be very efficient for editing my Wikipedia article.

Wikipedia is referred to this mass of information that has been collected becoming articles for general information of diverse amounts topics and and some summaries of in depth topics in the scientific community. Despite this wikipedia is not used in papers directly but rather as a way to do a quick check on few details. These articles can be edited by anyone and it takes a while before that information can be verified.

I became a wikipedian merely due to this class project, but as i learnt more about it and had to do some contributions of my own. It feels great knowing that people get to read your understanding of topics using sources that you have read and interpreted. Even though it is great there is another part, which is that other wikipedians that comment and read through your contributions with a fine eye. This part is somewhat frightening, but i have been assured in the training modules that is part of being a wikipedian.

This is how we grow as contributors to this online library and develop writing skills. I may have begun my journey as wikipedian for a class project but I intend to stay and help with the misinformations that exist on the wide internet. Only then can wikipedia and other sites like this can one day be “truthful” and reliable to all of our visitors, whether they are researchers or not.

image derived from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_page#/media/File:2019_Screenshot_of_English_Wikipedia_homepage.png

So the first and possibly most meaningful thing I took from training to be a wikipedian is “to be bold”. Editing wikipedia pages and creating new articles is a collaborative process between other editors, and wiki experts, so any mistake (some more challenging that others to fix) can be rectified. Even when adding citations and editing pages, I noticed that even though wikipedia has a large catalog and diversity in articles, there is always something that can added or new work to be done. Through completing training, I learned many things that would be very beneficial for future wikipedia editing. First is that every article has a talk page. Here other wikipedians and editors can give constructive criticism on what is missing and what is needed in order to make the article better. In the talk page you can also put your contributions to editing the article, as well as when publishing (will show in the history), as a common curtesy to let the primary writer know what was changed and why. I also learned that when drafting new pages on wikipedia you can write it in your sandbox first, this will allow you to lay out your page properly without publishing it. Something else that I learned was how to link key words to other related wiki pages, this adding to the strength and related information for better understanding your wiki article. Lastly, anything written has to be cited. This includes credible unbiased sources which include journals, textbooks, peer-reviewed articles, and not blogs, newspaper articles or biased sources.

I signed up for Wikipedia using the username Abominablemystery to edit the Slime Flux page. I was interested in this page because I had previously come across pictures of this plant disease online which piqued my interest, however the Wikipedia article was a complete stub.

When I first logged onto the student dashboard, there were modules I had to complete to help me which explained a variety of things such as how to use the Wikipedia editor and how to correctly cite sources while being careful to avoid plagiarism and copyright violation. 

After the modules, I took to Google Scholar to begin researching my topic. When I began to write my article on Slime Flux, I used the basic visual editor to create the new heading “Causes” right below the summary which someone else had previously written. Because I wasn’t supposed to use too many references for this exam assignment, I explained only the main cause. I also listed various bacteria which have been associated with the disease. I used the built in “cite” button on the visual editor to enter in the article details. Sometimes the cite button could automatically generate a citation by collecting webpage information, which was extremely convenient. I also created hyperlinks to other Wikipedia pages on certain terms like “xylem”, “fermentation”, and the various species of bacteria that I listed. This was created using the convenient link tool on the visual editor which automatically finds Wikipedia pages that have titles matching the terms I selected. 

After I finished, I reviewed my work. When I submitted, I wrote down what changes I made to the page, which is now visible in the “View history” tab of the page. Overall, the process was easy and went smoothly.

For as long as I can remember I had been told by my teachers that Wikipedia was an unreliable source and to never use it for research. I also remember ignoring them and using it on an almost daily basis- to look up quick definitions or concepts, tv show reviews, historical and upcoming events, biographies and so much more. 

Wikipedia is always the first link that pops up when I search anything, and out of convenience I use Wikipedia more than I realized or cared to admit. So, when the opportunity presented itself for me to edit a Wikipedia page, I was pleasantly surprised. I had never given much thought to it before, but I quickly realized that this was actually a chance for me to be a part of something big. Being a Wikipedian is like being an author. Billions of people can access your work and you’re contributing to something actually meaningful.

Editing a Wikipedia page also gave me a chance to add to my limited knowledge on biodiversity loss and other inter-related topics (the page I initially edited). It was indeed very easy to navigate and access. Linking articles within articles and learning how everything in science is interconnected in one way or another is absolutely mind boggling. This assignment also improved my citation skills which I am thankful for. Knowing that the changes that I made must be revised before being published made me feel more confident in using the information cited in the encyclopedia, and also aware of the fact how falsely perceived Wikipedia is by the public.